Efficient and economical operation of modern passenger aircraft makes it necessary for the aircraft operators concerned to be in a position to flexibly react to any fluctuations in passenger bookings. This means that changes in the layout of an aircraft cabin must be able to be carried out within a short period of time. During such changes in layout, for example the interior architecture of seats, galleys, overhead stowage compartments and other installations is changed. A change in layout can, for example, involve expanding business class at the expense of economy class so that as a result of this more business class passengers but fewer economy class passengers can be transported. The time required to carry out such a change in the layout of an aircraft cabin should not exceed a few hours. Furthermore, it should be possible to carry out such a change with as few installation personnel as possible.
For example, expanding business class at the expense of economy class involves, among other things, the expansion, installation and altering of the arrangement of seats, galleys and overhead stowage compartments (OHSCs), also referred to as hatracks, installed on the ceiling in the middle of the passenger cabin. Normally, with such alteration of the arrangement of the passenger cabin, deinstallation or installation of such OHSCs is a particularly time-intensive part of the layout change.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,753, an installation system for overhead stowage compartments for attaching the latter to a ceiling structure of an aircraft cabin is known. In order to achieve stable fastening of the overhead stowage compartments, the installation system is able to introduce forces, which can, for example, arise during turbulent flight phases, along any spatial direction into the aircraft structure. In this context the term “aircraft structure” relates to the fuselage, which involves a lightweight design comprising frames and stringers. The term “frames” refers to fuselage stiffeners that extend so as to be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fuselage. The term “stringers” refers to longitudinal stiffeners of the fuselage. In order to introduce all the possibly occurring forces into the aircraft structure it is thus necessary for the components of the installation system to precisely match the aircraft structure. This means that the installation system and thus also the overhead stowage compartments have to be installed so as to tie in with the frame spacing of the fuselage.
From EP 861781A1 a baggage stowage arrangement is known which makes possible fast conversion of an aircraft between a layout that is optimised for the transport of passengers and a layout that is optimised for the transport of freight. Fast exchange of overhead stowage compartments is achieved in that the corresponding stowage containers, for the purpose of being fastened to the ceiling structure of an aircraft cabin, are first laterally hooked into corresponding eyelets, and are then moved to their fastened position by means of a hinge movement.
From EP 514957 A1 a removable stowage compartment system is also known that makes possible a rapid change from a freight layout to a passenger layout and vice versa. In this arrangement the corresponding overhead stowage compartments are horizontally inserted into a rail system. The system is designed such that when the stowage compartment is slid in, a mechanism ensures that the stowage compartment clicks into place and is fastened in its end position.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,258 an installation system is known which makes it possible to change stowage compartments of different but mutually compatible sizes. In this arrangement larger stowage compartments fit into the same retaining structures that are also provided for smaller stowage compartments.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,048 a stowage compartment system is known that comprises panels which serve as a connecting link between the cabin structure and the overhead stowage compartments. In this arrangement the panels are characterised by fastening properties, which in other designs are provided by the cabin structure.